Ctg airport to get RT-PCR lab soon: Expat minister

Initiatives are underway for setting up RT-PCR lab at the Shah Amanat International Airport in Chattogram, said Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmed.

"A letter has been sent to the health ministry to take necessary steps in this regard," the minister said on Friday while speaking at a view exchange meeting with Bangladeshi expatriates in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), says a press release.

PCR lab has already been installed at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka as the UAE has made it mandatory for migrant returnees to get a rapid PCR test six hours before flying from Bangladesh.

Imran Ahmed, meanwhile, instructed the employees working in the Bangladesh embassy to regularly keep in touch with the expatriates living in the UAE so that they can work to solve their issues.

The minister had earlier promised to take necessary steps for the expats to have better access to the application for the National Identity Card (NID) at any time from any country.

Ambassador of Bangladesh to the UAE Md Abu Jafar, Councilor (Labour) Fatema Jahan and Abdul Alim Miya, and First Secretary (Labour) Lutfun Nahar Nazmi also spoke at the meeting.

At the meeting, Imran Ahmed urged the expatriates to invest in their motherland.

"All expatriate Bangladeshis must work together for the country's development," he said at the meeting organised by the Bangladesh Association in Fujairah province, UAE, on Thursday.

Imran Ahmed said the government is committed to the welfare of expatriates and their family members.

The minister went to UAE to attend a ministerial meeting titled "Abu Dhabi Dialogue" in Dubai.